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Copyright 

58 & I New York. 

THE ALI'.RKTVl'K CO , N V 












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DESGRIPTIVE. 



V7HE oil regions of Pennsylvania and New York, from which almost the entire world has 
v9 drawn its illuminating supplies for the past twenty years, are of comparatively small 
extent and to many an unknown country. The entire petroleum business is peculiarly 
an American enterprise, which commenced less than thirty years ago and which has rapidly 
assumed proportions that are truly wonderful. The first well ever drilled for oil was that 
of Col. E. L. Drake which was put down near Titusville in 1859. Since that time upwards 
of 57,000 wells have been drilled, and nearly 400,000,000 barrels of petroleum have been 
taken from the earth. There are about 25,000 wells producing oil at the present time. 

A section of country beginning south of Wellsville, in New York State, and extending 
south westerly, through the western part of Pennsylvania and a small distance into Ohio and 
West Virginia has produced this quantity of petroleum. A stretch of land, two hundred 
miles in length and less than twenty miles in width, will include the entire oil regions. But 
not one tenth part of this area has proved productive of oil. The oil districts, about eighty 
five in number, are scattered through this stretch of country, with well marked boundaries 
that separate them from the large sections of dry or unproductive territory, by which they are 
surrounded. These districts range in size from 100 up to 75,000 acres. The counties that have 
become famous for their oil production are Allegany and Cattaraugus in New York State, 
and McKean, Warren, Forest, Crawford, Venango, Clarim, Butler, Armstrong, Beaver. Alle- 
gheny and Washington in Pennsylvania. For a long time Pennsylvania enjoyed the distinc- 



tion of being the only oil producing state. She has produced more oil than all other states 
combined. Many of the older sections have been almost entirely exhausted of their oil, but 
new districts have been continually opened up, and at the present time, the production is 
40,000 barrels a day. The oil developments of Northwestern Ohio are entirely distinct from 
those of Pennsylvania and New York. The Ohio oil is found in a limestone rock and is 
strongly impregnated with sulphurous compounds; its principal use is for fuel purposes, while 
the product of Pennsylvania makes the finest illuminating oil in the world. 

HOW AN OIL WELL IS DRILLED. 

The crude petroleum of Pennsylvania and the eastern oil fields exists in the minute pores 
of a heavy sandstone formation that is found from 500 to 2700 feet beneath the surface of 
the ground. The wells are drilled by steam, and so perfect is the process that the deepest 
holes are drilled in from 30 to 90 days. Wben a well is to be sunk, a large wooden derrick is 
first erected, which is 72 feet in height and 24 feet square at the bottom, tapering to about 2 
feet square at the top. The heavy tools, which are usually 60 feet in length and from 1800 to 
2500 pounds weight, are attached to one end of a long cable, two inches in diameter, which 
is wound about a large windlass, called a ball wheel and attached to one side of the derrick. 
The bottom piece of the string of steel tools is a simple chisel-like instrument, known as a 
bit, and from 4 to 8 inches across the cutting edge. Steam is supplied from a 20 horse boiler, 
placed some distance from the derrick. A powerful engine, usually of 15 H. P., imparts 
motion to the heavy walking beam, which is pivoted to an upright stick of timber, called the 
"Samson Post." The cable with the string of tools is attached to the end of the walking 
beam which projects into the derrick, through the medium of an iron arrangement, with 
clamps and a swivel, and known as a "Temper Screw." As the walking beam moves up 
and down, the heavy tools are lifted and let fall. The skillful driller, with his hand upon 
the temper screw, causes the tools to turn round and round and pays out the cable, as the 
drill cuts its way through the reck. The work proceeds night and day until the oil-bearing 



rock is reached, stopping only when the tools are pulled up, to change the bit for a fresh one, 
and remove the pulverized rock from the hole. For the last purpose, an iron boiler is pro- 
vided, with a ball valve in the bottom which is fastened to a long rope, and readily lowered 
and raised by a smaller windlass to the left of the derrick, and denominated the sand reel. 

FLOWING WELLS AND THE TORPEDO. 

When the rock containing the oil is reached, if the well is in good territory, the hole be- 
gins to fill rapidly with oil. And as the drill cuts its way through the sand, as the oil form- 
ation is called, the oil often starts flowing from the top of the hole. Pipes are connected and 
the oil conducted into suitable receivers. It often flows naturally for months, without other 
aid, than an occasional stirring up from the drill. But the flow is greatly accelerated by the 
aid of nitro glycerine, and most wells are treated with heavy doses of it soon after being com- 
pleted. The operation is called "Shooting or Torpedoing a Well." The explosive is poured 
into tin tubes, about four inches in diameter, and made in sections, so as to conform in length 
to the thickness of the oil bearing rock. These are lowered to the bottom of the hole, and 
exploded by means of a weight and a percussion cap. A miniature earthquake is produced 
at the bottom of the hole. This breaks the sand rock into fragments and increases the flow 
of oil. The first effect of the torpedo is to cause the rising of a great fountain of oil, which 
ascends far above the top of the derrick with a rush and roar, forming one of the prettiest and 
most interesting sights to be witnessed in the oil regions. In some parts of the country, wells 
are struck that start from 800 to 4000 barrels a day. The largest well in Pennsylvania, the 
Armstrong in Butler County, which was discovered in October 1884, is estimated to have 
started flowing at the rate of 400 or 500 barrels an hour. So great was the force and power- 
ful the flow that it was impossible to save the oil at first, and for several hours the flood of 
crude petroleum ran to waste down the hillsides and into the nearest streams. "When one of 
these oil geysers is accidentally ignited the sight is both grand and impressive, and they often 
burn for a long time, before the ingenuity of the owners devises means to extinguish them. 



NATURAL GAS. 

The presence of oil is always accompanied by greater or less quantities of gas, which to 
distinguish it from the artificial or manufactured article is called natural gas. _ In some 
sections immense wells are found that produce nothing but gas. In such cases, if in proxim- 
ity to large towns or cities, the gas wells are more valuable than the wells that produce oil, as 
the gas is conducted through pipes and used for heat, light and manufacturing purposes. 
Scarcely a town exists to-day in Western Pennsylvania which is not heated or lighted to a 
greater or less extent by natural gas. The same is true of the cities and towns contiguous to 
the great oil and gas regions of Northwestern Ohio and Indiana. The city of Pittsburgh is 
surrounded by natural sas fields of great extent, and this convenient fuel has supplanted 
coal, and within the pasf four years almost revolutionized the manufactories of the great Iron 
City of the Alleghenies. Natural ejas from McKean County, Pa., finds its way through heavy 
iron pipes and is used for fuel purposes in Buffalo, N. Y. So great is the force with which 
it issues from the underground rock that no additional power is necessary to make it flow a 
distance of over ninety miles, with only a small percentage of loss of pressure. 

THE PIPE LINES. 

Nearly all the oil produced is transported out of the oil country by means of a system of 
pipe lines. One of these, the National Transit Co., is able to take the oil as it flows or is 
pumped into the tanks of the producer, and convey it through its own pipes, to the refineries 
at New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Two six inch 
pipe lines, supplied with powerful pumping stations, at established intervals, extend from 
Olean, through the southern part of New York State, one branch going to Bayonne, N. J., 
and the other, crossing the Hudson River, passing directly through Central Park, and thence 
across the East River to the refineries at Hunter's Point on Long Island. These lines are kept 
busy night and day and are capable of transporting 25,000 barrels of oil from the oil regions 
to the seaboard every twenty-four hours. 




DERRICK WITH SIDE FLOW. 




ST OIL WELL DRILLED. 




OIL CITY, PA. 




IO-JO. A TYPICAL OIL FIND TOWN 




TWO MILK TRESTLE, O. B. & W. R. R 



„^c^<&Mk& 




CURVE IN ROAD NEAR SUMMIT. PA. 



A BURNING OIL TANK. 




CITY OF TANK'S, BELOW OLEAN, N. V 



CAPACITY, 35,000 G. 




THE GREAT KINZUA BRIDGE. 




A PUMP FOR FORCING OIL FROM ONE STATION TO ANOTHER. 




LOADING AN OIL TRAIN. 




A TORPEDO WAGON WITH LOAD OF NITRO-GLYCKRINK 



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DOBBS BROS. 

LIBRARY BINOINQ 



7 8 V. ^° 

ST. AUGUSTINE ^ 
^32084 

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